Leaving for the Front

In 2014 the town of Masterton re-enacted the "Leaving for the Front" parade and train journey, with 100 secondary school boys dressed in World War 1 soldier uniforms, representing the soldiers who went to the war.

Michelle O'Connell joined the commemorative march and was moved by how the event had a profound influence on her and her son Christopher.

This story of a commemorative march held a century earlier captures the flavour of the times and the mixed emotions of the families left behind.